ledgerwm

Funny you mention that carlsode, per this GRBJ article "The building’s brewery is really a focal point of the entire expansion project and not just the first phase. Its craft beers also are a key element of the second stage." So looks like they are trying to stake their claim in the beer scene, and make a bigger push. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out for them. http://www.grbj.com/articles/76123-brewery-is-an-integral-piece-of-the-bob-expansion

Yeah it seems like restaurants were at the forefront of the brewing push. Holland had an italian restaurant for a good number of years called Via Maria, which actually brewed their own beer. The restaurant closed down in 2010, some bad financing deals, and they stopped brewing their own beer in 2009. I haven't had the BOB beer for awhile as well, and somewhat interesting that they were not pushing it in their beer in their beer tent in the parking lot during ArtPrize. Seems like a perfect opportunity to promote their beer with a captive audience.

I figure this is as good of a place as any to post a link to my West Michigan Brewery List - http://wmbizblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/its-spreading-beer-spill-in-west-michigan/ . I was getting frustrated with all the partial lists that were out there, and I wanted to consolidate into 1 solid list of breweries that are open, and that are planning to open in the West Michigan area. I break down the list by region, and I also add in my two cents as well. Also since this list is going to be constantly updated, if you guys get word of any new developments or breweries in the area, please let me know either by commenting on here, or on the blog. Since you guys are usually on top of development news I figured this would be a good place to start. Thanks and let me know if I missed anything.

Thanks for the response GRDadof3 I am a blogger, I write for my blog The Ledger. I write about West Michigan business new stories that interest me. Typically, I ask questions, make suggestions, and provide opinions. So no, I am not an expert, nor do I have the press badge or business card that grants me access to business leaders or records that normal press member could obtain. But I do a lot of research (hopefully in reading my posts this is quite evident) and I make do with this information. All in all my blog is just my thoughts and opinions, and I don’t claim it as anything more. Spearia is a well-known company that was constantly in the news. Danny Beckett in spoke quite openly about money in many of his interviews and articles. Being a privately held company, balance sheets, and PL statements for Spearia were not readily available. So I took all the information I could find on the company (which was plenty), and began writing. In regards to the possible misallocation of resources on large community events, I did focus on money. It's certainly possible that many of these events were well-sponsored and required little monetary investment from Spearia (as you mentioned and as a former employee mentioned on my blog)...but that doesn't preclude the events from being missteps either, as they must have required considerable planning and coordinating. Employee time and effort are also limited resources that might have been spent in a more productive manner. I think this was a factor in Spearia's downfall, though certainly not the only one. In fact, my post stated "ultimately it looks like a multitude of decision may have lead the company to unravel.” The Spearia saga inspired no shortage of questions, and I posed many of those in my post, hoping to get answers and further insight on the company and what happened in the last two months. The response on both my site and the board here has been wonderful. I'm very excited that my post has inspired comments and discussion, leading to additional details that can paint a fuller, and clearer picture. In fact, thanks to my post, I have spoken to some former Spearia employees & vendors that provided a lot of valuable information. I hope to be able to verify some of their accounts before publishing an additional update. Thanks again for your interest in this story, and I certainly hope that the story of Spearia and Danny Beckett becomes a valuable lesson for any current and future business. Per Danny it looks like he has some other ideas (which he is extremely good at) so it will be interesting to follow him in the upcoming year, and see what he does next.

Thanks for posting to my blog posts about Spearia, I am glad this forum is finding some interest in the story. GRDadof3, I would like to get a better idea of what you mean that I "throw around a lot of judgment" and that I "have little to no understanding of". I am open to feedback and I just want to better understand your opinions. The GR Press did a nice job on their article, but lucky for them they actually get paid for their writing.